Boston parking enforcement officers say they’re tired of being an “outlet” for the anger of people they issue tickets to, and are urging city officials to impose stiffer penalties for the offenders who regularly assault and harass them on the job.
Tensions were high at a City Council committee hearing prompted by a brutal beating that occurred in the overnight hours of Feb. 2, when a city employee nearing retirement age was hospitalized after he was repeatedly punched, kicked and pounded with his own radio by a man he issued a parking ticket to.
The attack left the parking enforcement officer with a “swollen left eye, swollen lip, cuts to his facial area and loose teeth,” a police report states. Wu administration officials at the day’s hearing said the employee has since been released from the hospital after undergoing surgery, but has not returned to work, and it’s not clear if he will want to.
The incident is not an isolated one, Jim Durkin, legislative and political action director for AFSCME Council 93, told city councilors and administration officials, speaking on behalf of the roughly 110 Boston parking enforcement officers represented by that particular union, which includes 2,100 city workers.
“In fact, if you talk to virtually any of these workers, you will learn that it is a regular part of the job,” Durkin said, citing results from a survey issued by the union that showed just two of the 73 workers who responded have never been physically or verbally assaulted on the job.
The results of that survey, he said, showed that 59% of respondents reported being verbally assaulted more than 30 times over the course of their careers, and 46% of respondents reported being physically assaulted between one and five times.
A few years ago, a quart of milk was dumped on the head of a 62-year-old female parking enforcement officer, and 10 years ago, a bullet was fired through the windshield of a parking enforcement van, narrowly missing an employee’s head, Durkin said.
While no shots were fired in this month’s assault, one of two assaults that occurred on Boston Transportation employees that week, the man who pummeled the parking enforcement officer tagging his car threatened the employee with a gun.
“How do you know I ain’t got a gun on me? I’ll shoot your ass,” the 34-year-old suspect Kenneth Vandergrift said, while making a motion towards his waistline area with his hand, the police report states.
Vandergrift was arrested on assault and battery charges, and was held on $500 bail, which AFSCME union members essentially described as a slap on the wrist.
Union officials are seeking tougher penalties, saying that city officials should work with state lawmakers to ensure perpetrators are held accountable under current laws — which carry a jail term of 90 days to two and half years and a fine of between $500 and $5,000 for assault on a public employee.
Current laws that cover assault and battery, Durkin said, should be expanded to ensure there’s a hefty fine for simple assault as well, and the city should consider an ordinance “that would accomplish the same goal.”
“Going forward, when these attacks happen, we need to find a way to get tougher with the people who think they can treat these people as an outlet for their anger,” Durkin said.
The two recent assaults, particularly the brutal beating, prompted City Councilors Erin Murphy and Ed Flynn to file a hearing order that was discussed at length at a Thursday committee meeting.
“Our office has heard from many city employees who have real fears for their safety,” Murphy said.
Murphy, Flynn and other councilors peppered Wu administration officials about what is being done to ensure transportation department employee safety, inquiries that centered around whether parking enforcement officers and supervisors work alone or in pairs, particularly during overnight hours, when the beating occurred.
City officials also pointed to the revenue parking tickets bring in for the city, comprising a good chunk of the city budget, which councilors said could be part of a city-wide public awareness campaign that highlights the work parking officers do.
In the overnight hours, parking tickets are largely written for street sweeping violations and for non-residents parked in resident-only spots, according to Wu administration officials — who described that enforcement as necessary to improve quality of life for residents and ensure clear streets for public works employees.
Revenue from overnight parking tickets was roughly $7.8 million last fiscal year, stemming from 108,112 violations, Nick Gove, deputy chief of transportation, said.
Administration officials also pointed to their efforts to beef up low staffing levels. Councilor John FitzGerald said recent assaults, which officials said have been on the rise in the past few years, could be a deterrent to filling those jobs.
“No city worker should have to experience violence when they’re doing their job,” Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge said. “It’s unacceptable.”
AFSCME union officials left the meeting discouraged, however, after Franklin-Hodge wouldn’t commit to a potential joint labor-management committee meeting to allow city parking employees a chance to air out their safety concerns, a source said.
During the day’s session, Ed Nastari, a union representative, had challenged the administration to immediately commit to a joint meeting — not held since 2013 per the union — and confronted Franklin-Hodge about it after the hearing to no avail.
“As noted in our testimony during yesterday’s hearing, the city is eager to work with our union partners to ensure the safety of public employees and we are always open to productive dialogue,” a city spokesperson said in a Friday statement. “Mayor Wu personally reached out to the worker that was recently assaulted while he was in the hospital to check on him.”